Chapter 138: The New Year
Chapter 138: The New Year
After my conversation with Lan Xiao Su, I found a vacant seat in the room and sat down as I waited for Mei Gui to finish her quest. A lot of the Hunters who were lined up behind me saw how happy Lan Xiao Su was after talking to me, and glared at me in hatred. I ignored them though, and pulled out my phone. I opened up the ‘Messages’ app and sent Mei Gui a text.
[Mei Gui, are you finished yet?]
I then pocketed my phone…not. The message I had sent appeared as ‘read’ instantly, and Mei Gui was already typing back.
[Yes, Master. I am on my way back to the guild. It should take approximately 5 minutes.]
[Got it, I’m just sitting on a chair right now. Hard to miss me.]
[Understood, Master.]
And after that, I put my phone into sleep, and shoved it back in my pocket. As promised, Mei Gui arrived 5 minutes later, and after waving to me she ended up going to the quickest line there was. She still had to wait around 5-10 minutes before it was finally her turn, though.
Mei Gui soon walked over to me, and talked a little about her quest. Our rewards were more or less the same, since they were both resource excavation quests in the ‘easy’ category. In other words, Mei Gui and I were currently equal in term of Bounty Points – we both had 10. 90 more to go in order to become Bronze Hunters.
In addition, we both received ¥500 each, for a grand total of ¥1,000. The two of us could live off this for around a week or so, as long as we don’t do any excessive shopping or spend any money outside of basic necessities. But since we were on break to school, I had all the time in the world to do more quests, meaning I could secure a good amount of money during this time, up until school starts again…which also means that we could afford to spend a little.
I turned to Mei Gui. “Let’s go, Mei Gui. It’s lunchtime.”
Mei Gui latched onto my arm, clearly excited for the fireworks show I was going to take her to see in the evening. “Yes, Master!”
*****
– Hotpot Shenzhen, 12:30 PM –
“This place…” I murmured.
“Master, if you are uncomfortable here, we can go somewhere else,” Mei Gui said with concern in her eyes. When I asked her where she wanted to go eat, she had responded with this place immediately. It was the same place Feng Mian had recommended to me on our…date? Can it even be called that, at this point?
Anyway…I had mixed feelings about this place, but if Mei Gui wanted to eat here, then so be it. I shook my head and smiled to her.
“Don’t worry, Mei Gui. I’m fine,” I said calmly. “The food here was delicious last time, so I have high expectations,” I added comically to ease the mood.
A waitress hurried over, and by chance, it was the same one who had greeted us last time. She looked at me, then at Mei Gui, then back at me again. What are you thinking right now, waitress-san…?
The two of us ended up ordering a spicy hotpot this time around, since last time we were here we ate a non-spicy one, as Qing Yue can’t eat spicy foods. Of course, we also ordered far less ingredients than last time, since it was just the two of us. The ratio of meat to vegetables was very unbalanced though, and there was far more of the former. Sure, it wasn’t healthy and whatever, but honestly? I don’t really care. I’m the type to care more about taste than nutrients, and Mei Gui seemed to be the same (not to say the vegetables here were bad, of course).
After we finished eating, the waitress brought over our bill. The total cost was around ¥100, which was less than I expected. Still, it was quite a bit, meaning with our puny ¥1,000 budget currently, there’s no way we could afford to eat out everyday. After paying, I looked at Mei Gui.
“How was it? The food, I mean,” I asked.
Mei Gui wiped her mouth with a napkin, and spoke. “Mm, it was delicious, Master. Thank you.”
I grinned. “Why are you thanking me now? C’mon, the day isn’t over yet.”
I then stood up, and Mei Gui did the same. She tilted her head. “Where do we go now, Master?”
I sank into thought, then licked my lips as I thought of a good idea.
“Hm…Mei Gui, have you ever been to an amusement park before?”
*****
– Happy Valley Shenzhen, 2:30 PM –
Happy Valley – a popular amusement park that has branches all across the world. Shenzhen’s is just one of them. It took Mei Gui and I around half an hour to get here from Hotpot Shenzhen. The tickets here weren’t too expensive, around ¥24 per person. So, Mei Gui and I added together totaled up to be around ¥48 plus tax. Not too bad of a deal, considering the place was huge, and all the attractions and rides within it could be accessed without any further fee. Of course, long waiting lines still existed. That was an inevitable part of any popular amusement park.
“Where do you want to go first, Mei Gui?” I asked, looking down at the brochure in my hands. “It’s also my first time here, so I’ll leave the decisions up to you.”
“Hm…how about that ‘roller coaster’ thing, Master?” Mei Gui instantly pointed towards the largest ride in this whole amusement park. I laughed awkwardly and scratched my cheeks at her daring choice, but since I had already said I would let her pick, I couldn’t back out now. That would made me seem like a wimp.
Well…it can’t be too bad, right?
*****
– On the Ride –
“HOLLLLLYYYYYY SHIT!”
I yelled in despair as the roller coaster dropped downwards once more at hypersonic speeds.
“M-MEI GUI?! YOU OKAY?!”
“…Yes, Master,” she replied calmly, unfazed at all by the thrill of the ride. I, however, had completely lost all sense of reason and calmness, and was currently screaming and cursing at the top of my lungs.
How the hell are you so calm and un-AHHHHH!
…
In the end, I vowed to never go on a roller coaster again. If it was just the speed from purely the weight of the roller coaster and its riders, then that speed I would be fine with. But in this world of magic, with a little Time and Sky Magic, the speed of the roller coaster could easily surpass that of sound. Of course, all riders were given proper protection using magic barriers, but they were made in a way that while our lives were protected, we still felt every bit of the speed and thrill.
I found a random bench on the side of the pathway, and hurried over to it. “Man…I’m surprised I don’t want to vomit right about now.”
That ride, put frankly, was extremely intense. However, thanks to there being an invisible Psychic Element barrier that you could walk through stationed at the exit of the ride, as soon as passengers pass through it, all nausea and urges to vomit are cured. Truly a well-designed feature in the amusement park industry, though Happy Valley wasn’t the only one who had it. It was hard to say who invented this in the beginning, but whoever he or she was, they were a genius.
“Master, are you alright?” Mei Gui asked, sitting down next to me and rubbing my back.
I gave a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m fine…I just never want to go on that ride again, haha…”
Mei Gui gave a deep sigh. “Master, if you couldn’t handle it, you should have just told me beforehand. I would have chose something else.”
I shook my head. “Nah, that ride was…quite a thrill for me, but honestly? I’m kind of feeling the rush of adrenaline. It’s just not strong enough to make me actually take that step forward and go on that ride again. What was it called? The Leviathan?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Huh…certainly lives up to its name,” I muttered under my breath. Then, standing up, I continued. “Well then, Mei Gui. It’s still quite early. Where do you want to go next?”
*****
– 10 PM, Happy Valley Restaurant –
“Man…we really lost track of time, huh?” I said with an exasperated sigh.
“Yes…good thing the amusement park is open all night today, because of the new year,” Mei Gui said.
The two of us were currently eating within the restaurant built directly inside the amusement park. It was just cheap fast food, but I wasn’t complaining. We already had a delicious lunch, and food wasn’t what amusement parks were famous for, anyway. We ordered some quick hamburgers with fries, and called it dinner.
Around an hour later, we were finished. 11 PM. In other words, nearly midnight. The fireworks show, would soon be starting.
“Mei Gui, the fireworks are going to start when the clock hits midnight. Let’s set off now, to find a good vantage point for the show.” I suggested, wiping my mouth with a napkin as Mei Gui did the same.
“Understood, Master. Where do you have in mind?”
I sank into thought. Hmm…the Avast Mountains? Usually, the higher the place, the better, for this kind of thing…but nah, it’s too far away. What are some other places high from sea level…the roof of a skyscraper? Yeah, like hell we’ll be able to get up there without being detected. Those places always have barriers in place to prevent the use of the spell Flight. Hm, this is tougher than I expected…we’re in an amusement park, so there isn’t many-
Wait…amusement park, high place.
…That’s it!
“Kuku…” a grin crept up my face. “Mei Gui, does the Ferris Wheel sound good?”